tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post8211399924033904252..comments2024-03-26T10:03:51.827+13:00Comments on Karl du Fresne: Shirley Smith: a strong woman strangely in awe of her ratbag husbandKarl du Fresnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05054853925940134404noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-48489071277838595022020-07-23T16:08:17.880+12:002020-07-23T16:08:17.880+12:00Great review Karl. I particularly love the line &q...Great review Karl. I particularly love the line "When the facts conflicted with the theory, it was assumed that the facts must be wrong."<br />Yet we still have useful idiots running (or trying to run, or ruining) our country that remain seduced by marxism. Unbelievable.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14665903378623921185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-20105181802773745652020-07-07T10:25:49.780+12:002020-07-07T10:25:49.780+12:00I can safely say that there was not a shred of evi...<i> I can safely say that there was not a shred of evidence put to the jury that suggested Dr Sutch ever passed on any state secrets or material that might be helpful to the Soviets.</i><br /><br />Yes, this was the defence at the trial, and it convinced the jury.<br /><br />There was no evidence, in shreds or otherwise, because Sutch tossed the package he was carrying into the car being driven by Dimitri Rasgovorov (a KGB agent based at the Soviet Embassy in Messines Rd) as soon as the Keystone Cops (pardon, SIS agents and police officers) burst out of the public dunny in the park at the top of Aro St by Holloway Rd, where Sutch had arranged to meet Rasgovorov that dark and rainy night.<br /><br />So the jury never knew what was in the package, or in all the others Sutch had passed to Rasgovorov and other Society Embassy people in dark lanes in Karori and elsewhere. Without knowing what was in the package, the jury could not find it was full of state secrets, and thus acquitted Sutch, as it should have done under our justice system, where the Crown is meant to prove its case.<br /><br />Whatever was in the package, I have always suspected it probably wasn't an album of Sutch's family snaps.<br />David McLoughlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07572242600889192661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-28744594822161608912020-07-06T13:04:25.754+12:002020-07-06T13:04:25.754+12:00I worked for Shirley in the early to mid 1970s.She...I worked for Shirley in the early to mid 1970s.She had a deep seated sense of fairness and exhibited that with per devotion, whether it be to her clients, relatives, the protection of historic Thorndon or any underdog. She was a delight to work alongside. Her late husband's antics should not be allowed to detract from her wonderful and kind character. Having been involved with his defence I can safely say that there was not a shred of evidence put to the jury that suggested Dr Sutch ever passed on any state secrets or material that might be helpful to the Soviets. I doubt that 14 or so more years after he was railroaded out of Government Service he had anything that was useful to another country. He was at the time in charge of NZ Woollen Mills Assoc and was no doubt in possession of all sorts of information about wool production and pricing. Hardly of interest to any other State. The Police/SIS in their evidence hunting for the case left no stone unturned in their attempts to find some secrets he passed on. They raided his house and office, subpoenaed his secretary to give evidence and trawled everywhere else but could find nothing. Years later I met up with Richard Savage, who as Solicitor-General, prosecuted at the trial. He acknowledged that there was no evidence led of any information that Sutch had passed on but said "there was a lot more to the case than came out". Yeah right. To this day, despite the innuendos coming from various sources, no one has been able to establish if he passed on anything - and if he did what it was.Gordonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11909699954141192996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8442430064359197279.post-84946727417391288132020-07-04T12:54:47.285+12:002020-07-04T12:54:47.285+12:00What a marvelous review, thank you Karl. It is cu...What a marvelous review, thank you Karl. It is curious how back-in-the-day so many of the New Zealand Establishment were seduced by Communism and the blandishments of the Soviets. Nowadays it seems their successors dote on China and scramble for trinkets offered by the Chinese Communist Party. The more things change, the more they stay the same I suppose.Odysseushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04745489060434244478noreply@blogger.com